Jeff

I usually do a cook-out on Memorial day but it was cancelled due to out of town guest that don't like BBQ. I am hoping to get one done in the next few weeks. Been to long since I had ribs and poppers! I can let ya'all know if ya wanna fly in!

I am down to a smoker and 1 coal grill. Gas wore out and didn't replace it YET. I will smoke 15-20 pound of ribs(3 slabs St Louis style) and 10-12 pounds of chicken, most of the time. Coal grill will get the poppers, roastnears, burgers and dogs. Gas gets the 3 meat/4 veggie kabobs. Last cook-out ( Did CHRISTmas dinner) was 3 slabs of ribs with my home made dry rub (mopped the last 20 minutes), 40 cream- cheese stuffed, bacon wrapped poppers, 20 roastnears, 4 pound homemade coleslaw, 5 pound of burgers, 2 packs of dogs and baked beans. 8 adults, 4 children and no left overs! YEA BABY!!! Whos da grill master!!

The key word there Joe is "collectively". We are "independent" business owners. Yes we agree for the most part but the guy that thinks he will get more people in the door by advertising the "free" will, in my opinion, never change.I tried the free scan, free battery install, free....! It just jammed up the bays with a lotta folks that couldn't afford to own a car! Till the consumer realizes nothing is "free" they will continue to expect it!

Thanks Gonzo..for your stories, advice, the smiles you bring and most of all your service to our great nation. GOD BLESS and Semper Fi! And if ya run into old Bob again tell him I said thanks too!

Xrac...I don't see it. Wal-mart, A_Z, Advance. Just last week I got a call form my NAPA store...they had installed a battery for a young lady and it wouldn't start. Spins just fine. I grabbed the scanner and took the ride up the street. After getting a no response and hearing all the relays going crazy I went back to the battery. Installed properly, cables cleaned. Then I noticed a bit of crud on the aux. ground wire at the neg post. This is the ground for the ECM and PDC, Pulled the neg cable bolt out, scrapped the end clean and re-installed. Fired right up. gave the young lady my card, spoke to the manager about the possible consequences of this type of "courtesy" and came back to the shop. Shoulda got an hour labor but I hope it pays more in goodwill..Karma if you will. Kinda got offtrack here but just goes to show why we SHOULD get a fair rate for an installation!

I do some driveability and computer work for a local shop. I asked their lead tech why they farm it out. "The shop owner will not update their data system." Why....because it is a bootleg version of alldata and the fella won't pay for the subscription. same with his scanners and such. They muddle thru and the customer pays for it in increased cost. What I cant figure out is how the dude stays in business. 3 Bays and always busy...what am I doin wrong?

I would also like to add Police Firemen and the such. All those who serve at home and abroad. God Bless and THANK YOU!

Ya gotta love the BOB parts.................Bad Outta da Box!!!

I am using Quikbooks Pro 2013. Just upgraded from 2010.

Yea this coulda been a fun one on a slow day BUT....I thinks ya did the right thing Joe.

If I understand you correctly you want to use Quikbooks to invoice your customers. I my opinion that would not be the correct way to handle invoices. I use M1 SU 5.9 with Quikbooks integrator. I post all tickets thru Manager. At the end of day I go to Quikbooks and click on integrate. It "copies" all the days Customer invoices into Quikbooks. Then you have all your reciepts, customer info, taxes, etc in Quikbooks. Since I do not use the plus version I cant speak as to inventory and such. I do manually enter all the parts invoices into QB. The nice thing is at the end of the day you can see what your "bank" is, taxes collected etc. I wouldnt be without it! maybe if you could clarify what you are trying to accomplish we could help furthur.

Some Guy....that fella sure does get around. The problem is 2 fold in my opinion. First the economics are still killin a lot of folks. Secondly we are all,for the most part, in the public's eye, liars. That little "box" we use tells us whats wrong with the car. No need to spend time and money on a proper diag. When the check light comes on, and they don't see any perceptible difference in the performance, then we become crooks for charging to diag and repair. Until the general population becomes educated in the complexities of the modern auto we will continue to fight this battle. Put on your armor, open the doors and prepare to do battle!!

Many of the shops in this area advertise "free" check engine light scans. AZ will scan for free, the list goes on. NOTHING IS FREE!!! The final bill will reflect that. In the case of AZ they wanna sell parts. The customer perception is the "magic box" will tell us exactly what is wrong therefore there is no need to diagnose the problem. In their mind the complexity of the car has made it EASIER to fix. I try to explain the difference in a code reader that AZ uses and the scanner I use..data stream, counters, monitors, etc.Most understand, the others will never understand. As a side note until we are perceived as the professionals we are this may never change.

man the kids at McD's can't make change if the register don't show it. try it yourself. Order a cheesburger..about $1.19. hand em 2.20 and watch em sweat.

Related to a prior discussion on diag time...I tried to save my customers money in the beginning by cutting labor..parts profit...etc. Now I charge a fair rate and a reasonable parts mark-up. Lost a few to economics but I gotta survive also. The cars are more complex and with the internet everyone is a genius( got 2 here now that have 500 plus in internet repairs that still don't run). Time is money, and I cant get more time, so I gotta get more money. Sounds kinda harsh but that's as simple as it gets. Yes I do still help out folks on occasion but that's when I feel its prudent, not them.!

At first I did the "free" diag. Then I began rolling it into the final bill. When I had customers calling me to say the had phone shopped and it was X hours to replace part, and I was overcharging them, that went our the window. Now policy is .5 hour diag and additional time is billed in half hour increments. repairs are extra. To many times when the diag was free folks were pulling the cars out and having Some Guy (he's back) perform the repairs. Then if it didn't fix it I was a crook! I can go to the local hardware store and browse all day and ask stupid questions and get less that professional answers. If I want a deck built to city codes with good materials it will cost. NUTTIN IN LIFE IS FREE!

I started with 700 bucks, 200 grand in tools ( hello my name is Jeff and I am a tool junkie ) and a podunk 1 bay shop. There have been some highs and some real LOWS. I have quit, cussed, kicked, left and came back. Ultimately I like workin on cars. The cash flow could always be better and the challenges never end. With all that said ASO is a blessing. I participate in several forums and ASO is at the top of my list. The one thing I would add is to Market yourself and track your returns. I only advertise in 1 publication that proved over time it had the best returns. I do have an internet presences thru repair pal and other similar sites. All of it is tracked thru my software (Mitchell). That is the other thing...a good repair and management program is crucial! Good luck and check in often.

http://www.searchautoparts.com/abrn/ Go to this link and check it out. HTH, Jeff.

I been following the Fl actions. I dont do tires now but have been looking into adding that. Spoke to my tire guy this morning and he is following it also. I wouldn't have a clue without ASO. Thanks for the updates!

I cant imagine being anything or anywhere but American. I DO NOT trust the the government!!

I just got an education. GOD guns and guts is all our founding fathers had! Keeps your Bible close and your guns closer, many out there would have us stripped of both!

I have put used tires on my personal vehicles and never had a problem with them. On the road my shop is on there are no less than 4 used tire " dealers " in a 3 mile stretch. I personally think it would be a waste the shred some of the used tires I have bought in the past. I have seen folks that were not regular with rotations have 4 new tires installed and 2 of them were in very good condition. I guess for the most part it boils down to common sense...which is not so common anymore.

I will stick with fishin!!

I personally believe the drums are not dampened enough. Remember the old school drums that had a "spring" wrapped around them? This was a constant problem when I worked for Chrysler. Ya could go all factory parts, then if the noise still exist?

I have had some luck with adding more taper to the lead ends/edges of the shoes. Also be sure to lube the backing plate anywhere there is contact, especially under the retaining springs/nails. That was a common complaint with the Stratus/Breeze models. Some just cant be fixed. I understand the desire to satisfy the customer but if the drove the first set of shoes into the ground how can they complain about some brake noise?